Lap-Band Surgery Lawsuit Filed Following Woman’s Death

The husband of a California woman who died shortly after a Lap-Band surgery has filed medical malpractice lawsuits against several defendants linked to the clinic where the surgery was performed and to the advertising campaign that advertised the weight loss procedure.

Laura Faitro died in 2010, five days after receiving a Lap-Band surgery at the Valley Surgical Center, the Los Angeles Times reports. Her husband, John, claims that her liver was lacerated several times during the surgery, which involves placing a silicone ring around the stomach to discourage overeating, but that she was discharged without being notified of the injury. When she experienced severe abdominal pain after being discharged, she sought treatment at Simi Valley Hospital, where she was diagnosed with sepsis, the medical malpractice lawsuit states. After she died, an autopsy found three liters of bloody fluid in her abdomen.

John Faitro reportedly holds several defendants responsible for his wife's death, including doctors who performed the surgery, doctors who treated her at Simi, both facilities and the 1-800-GET-THIN campaign that advertised the Lap-Band procedure, which Faitro and other plaintiffs in the separate suit claim was deceptive and understated the risks of the surgery.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Lap-Band procedure is restricted for use by adults who are currently severely obese, have been obese for at least five years and for whom non-surgical weight loss methods have failed.

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